Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of sneaker
Explanation
Athletic or casual rubber-soled shoes are called sneakers. Before you walk your neighbor's Great Dane, you'll have to take off your work shoes and put on your sneakers. You can also call sneakers tennis shoes, kicks, or running shoes, and if you're in Britain, you can call them trainers or plimsolls. Sneakers are made for exercise and sports, but they're also very popular everyday shoes because they're so comfortable. Sneaker, which is most common in the Northeast US, comes from their noiseless rubber soles, perfect for sneaking. Originally, they were called sneaks.
Vocabulary lists containing sneaker
"On Turning Ten" by Billy Collins
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"Going Green with Cameron Diaz"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Market stalls in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi have been shut, while police have stormed warehouses, clothing outlets and sneaker stores.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
Shares in the sneaker maker fell more than 3% premarket after it said it continued to face sales weakness in China.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
The sneaker brand has fallen a long way since its 2021 public listing, when it debuted with a $2.2 billion valuation.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 17, 2026
The sand-colored, cream-soled shoes Cornyn wore during his concession speech, a composite of an Oxford and a sneaker, looked a lot like the ones he’d been wearing when we spoke.
From Slate ● Jun. 5, 2026
A red sneaker next to its mate on the shoe rack in my closet.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
She wore no-nonsense sneakers with pink swooshes and carried two FedEx boxes.
From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2026
My jeans, sneakers and hoodie were all plain and gender neutral.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
The company is also well-known for its viral short videos, in which its internet-famous sneaker-authenticator Rami Almordaah evaluates, buys, and sells rare sneakers that often cost thousands of dollars.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
NBA star Kyrie Irving walked out onto a basketball court in southwest China to rapturous applause, his brightly coloured Chinese-made sneakers a vivid statement of domestic sportswear brands' increasing global reach.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
One of his sneakers had come untied again and he pulled it off.
From "All About Sam" by Lois Lowry
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
